Interactive artwork at Saint-Etienne

engineering college & interactive art

In the context of "1% artistique"*, the artist Konrad Loder devised an original piece of interactive art for the Saint-Etienne Telecom engineering college, and for the realisation of his idea, sought the expertise of Nokinomo.

Loder’s scheme operates via a large technical apparatus that interrogates visitors to the site. People often seek insight into the external world through the prism of a screen. But is that screen faithful to reality?

In the college entrance hall, a sculpture resembling a satellite hovers in the air. Attached is a camera that captures the scene below in real time. On the ground, a graphic configuration designates the boundaries of the interrogation, and the path for students to follow. Of the millions of pixels that form the digital camera image, only the centremost pixel is analysed.

One of the facets of the sculpture consists of a transparent hexagon, the colour of which varies constantly to match the colour of the central pixel. The satellite continuously transmits the characteristics of the central pixel to another part of the project, called the Mega Pixel.

On the glass facade of the building, facing out towards the street, the Mega Pixel, consisting of three large round unicolor LED screens (red, green and blue), transmits a version of the results to passers-by.
It thereby reveals the true nature of the pixel, which is not a pure colour but is constituted of three basic colours: red, green and blue. The digital image is a translation of reality.

*French statute requiring a minimum investment in culture and art equivalent to 1% of expenditure on civic developments.